RACE INFORMATION

Harvick wins at Richmond International Raceway: #33-Kevin Harvick won the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway for his first Nationwide win since September 2010. #6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. finished second followed by #54-Kurt Busch, #18-Denny Hamlin, #43-Michael Annett, #3-Austin Dillon, #51-Ty Dillon, #87-Joe Nemechek, #22-Ryan Blaney, and #20-Darrell Wallace, Jr. There were 7 cautions for 45 laps and 8 lead changes among 6 leaders. The estimated attendance was 38,000. Complete results are on the Richmond International Raceway race results page (pdf).(9-7-2012)

Richmond International Raceway Race Fast Facts:
Kevin Harvick won the 32nd Annual Virginia 529 College Savings 250, his 38th victory in 288 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
Harvick moves into a tie with Carl Edwards for third on the all-time series wins list.
This is his first victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2012. His last win came at Richmond on Sept. 10, 2010, 30 starts ago.
This is his sixth victory and 18th top-10 finish in 23 races at Richmond International Raceway.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (second) posted his fourth top-10 finish in six races at Richmond International Raceway. It is his 19th top-10 finish in 2012.
Kurt Busch (third) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Richmond International Raceway.
Elliott Sadler leads the point standings by 1 points over Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
(NASCAR Intergrated Marketing Communications)(9-7-2012)

Stenhouse, Jr. on pole at Richmond International Raceway: #6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. won the Coors Light Pole for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway with a speed of 122.822 mph. #3-Austin Dillon will start second. The rest of the top ten: #33-Kevin Harvick, #12-Sam Hornish, Jr., #60-Travis Pastrana, #18-Denny Hamlin, #11-Brian Scott, #70-Johanna Long, #44-Mike Bliss, and #31-Justin Allgaier. Did Not Qualify:#52-Joey Gase, #50-David Starr, #89-Morgan Shepherd, #74-Mike Harmon. The starting lineup is posted on the Richmond International Raceway starting lineup page (pdf).(9-7-2012)

Richmond International Raceway Qualifying Notes:
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 32nd Annual Virginia 529 College Savings 250 with a lap of 21.983 seconds, 122.822 mph.
This is his eighth pole in 98 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his fourth pole and 21st top-10 start in 2012.
This is his first pole in six races at Richmond International Raceway.
Austin Dillon (second) posted his 19th top-10 start of 2012 and his second in three races at Richmond International Raceway.
Kevin Harvick (third) posted his 16th top-10 start at Richmond International Raceway. It is his ninth in 11 races this season.
Travis Pastrana will start fifth, his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series top-10 start.
(NASCAR Intergrated Marketing Communications)(9-7-2012)

Pastrana fastest in final practice: #60-Travis Pastrana was fastest during the only practice session at Richmond International Raceway with a speed of 122.856mph. #6-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was second, followed by: #18-Denny Hamlin, #33-Kevin Harvick, #11-Brian Scott, #54-Kurt Busch, #43-Michael Annett, #30-James Buescher, #51-Ty Dillon, and #38-Brad Sweet. See complete results on the Richmond International Raceway practice 1 speeds page (pdf).(9-7-2012)

Entry List: There are 46 cars on the preliminary entry list for Friday's Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway. A few notes:
Jeremy Clements will be in the JD Motorsports #4 while Ty Dillon drives the #51;
Paulie Harraka will drive the Go Green #08;
Tanner Berryhill in the #17 will make another attempt;
Darrell Wallace returns to the Joe Gibbs #20;
Ryan Blaney will drive the #22 for Penske Racing;
Derek White will drive the #24;
Dexter Stacey will drive the Go Green #39;
David Starr remains in the MAKE Motorsports #50;
Travis Pastrana drives the Roush Fenway #60;
Kevin Lepage and the #86 team return;
Ryan Truex will drive the #99 for RAB Racing.(9-3-2012)UPDATE: Blake Koch will drive the #00.(9-6-2012)
See the complete list on the Richmond International Raceway entry list page.

Notes: Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same tire codes at Richmond this weekend . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that teams in both series ran at Richmond earlier this season . . . these teams ran this same tire set-up at both Richmond and New Hampshire last season . . . Sprint Cup teams also ran this left-side tire code (D-4416) with a different right-side code at Bristol two weeks ago . . . as on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length, teams will not run inner liners in their tires at Richmond.

NASCAR News & Notes

Battle For Points Lead Comes Down to Sadler And Stenhouse & Again
It's déjà vu all over again, only the positions have reversed.
Last year, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led Elliott Sadler down the homestretch in the hunt for the NASCAR Nationwide Series title. Fueled by two victories at Iowa, Stenhouse went on to capture the 2011 NNS championship by 45 points over Sadler.
In 2011, Stenhouse was able to hang onto the title despite not winning a race in the final 12 events. Although Sadler did not find his way to Victory Lane in 2011, he consistently had strong finishes that placed him the runner up.
In 2012, as the series heads into its 25th race of the season at Richmond International Raceway for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250, Sadler leads Stenhouse by 12 points. Richmond is Sadler's home track.
Last weekend, Stenhouse won his fourth race of the season when he beat Brad Keselowski to the checkers by 0.157 seconds in the NRA American Warrior 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Stenhouse's triumph tied Sadler's victory count this season.
Stenhouse has also won at Las Vegas, Texas and Iowa, while Sadler has found Victory Lane at Phoenix, Bristol, Chicagoland and Iowa.
Neither Sadler nor Stenhouse has won a NASCAR national series event at Richmond. In the Sept. 9, 2011, race, Stenhouse finished third and Sadler placed sixth. Neither led a lap. This year's April 27 affair saw Stenhouse and Sadler come in fourth and sixth, respectively.
Both drivers have separated themselves from third-place Sam Hornish Jr., who sits 32 points outside of first. Austin Dillon (-37) and Justin Allgaier (-94) round out the top five.

Dillon To Achieve Boyhood Dream On The Baseball Field
On Wednesday, Sept. 5, Austin Dillon will get the opportunity to live out one of his boyhood dreams when he'll participate in pre-game activities at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
Dillon, who was a member of the Clemmons, N.C., Little League team that reached the 2002 Little League World Series, will switch roles with Washington Nationals reliever Drew Storen.
Dillon will take batting practice, play catch and participate in pre-game drills with Storen. Then later that day, Dillon will throw the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Nationals game against the Chicago Cubs.
The following day, Storen will get his turn at trying out a different job and living out a dream of his own when he visits Richmond International Raceway. He will take hot laps around the short track in a pace car with Dillon behind the steering wheel.
Heading into Friday's NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Richmond, Dillon has only made two other series starts at the track. In his previous performances, he finished 26th in 2008 and ninth earlier this year.

Nemechek Looking To Jump Into Top 10
Joe Nemechek is turning a lot of heads this year with his consistency.
Nemechek (569 points) currently sits 11th in the standings, just one point behind Danica Patrick (570); a point away from cracking the top 10. Considering his recent success at Richmond, it is possible that Nemechek could propel himself into the top 10 by the end of the week.
In last year's September race at Richmond, Nemechek finished 10th, and followed that up with a 13th-place showing this April. Nemechek arrives in Richmond for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 fresh off back-to-back top-15 finishes at Bristol (11th) and Atlanta (14th).
After 23 races (of a possible 24) this season, he has had 16 finishes in the top 20.
What makes Nemechek's top-10 bid even more impressive is that his small team has reached this position after not entering June's race at Road America. The 1992 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion won at Richmond in 1994. In 21 NNS appearances at Richmond, Nemechek has 17 top-20 finishes.

NASCAR Nationwide Series, Etc.
Travis Pastrana returns to the site of his NNS debut earlier this season at Richmond, where he finished 22nd. However, he will be driving for a different organization this time around. Pastrana will pilot the No. 60 Ford EcoBoost Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. & NSCS regulars Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Hornish and Kurt Busch, who won the NNS race in April will pull double-duty. Harvick has won five times in the series at Richmond. Hamlin has won twice at this home track. & Ryan Blaney (Penske Racing), Ty Dillon (Richard Childress Racing) and Darrell Wallace Jr. (Joe Gibbs Racing) all return to the NNS with powerhouse teams. & This weekend's NNS race at Richmond will mark Patrick's 50th start in the series.